Claudin-6

Tight junctions represent one mode of cell-to-cell adhesion in epithelial or endothelial cell sheets, forming continuous seals around cells and serving as a physical barrier to prevent solutes and water from passing freely through the paracellular space. These junctions are comprised of sets of continuous networking strands in the outwardly facing cytoplasmic leaflet, with complementary grooves in the inwardly facing extracytoplasmic leaflet. Claudin-6, also knows as CLDN6, is a multipass transmembrane protein in the Claudin family. Claudin-6 is expressed by epithelial cells where it participates in tissue development and the maintenance of tight junction integrity. And it is one of the entry cofactors for hepatitis C virus. The methylation of CLDN6 may be involved in esophageal tumorigenesis. The gene of CLDN6 is adjacent to another family member CLDN9 on chromosome 16.